Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1887-04-22


"Somo may not, F" he answered, with
dubious shake of the head, and he
was looking after me as l entered the
brush.
had forgotten to say that during the
night we were greatly disturbed by the
noises around us. We kept several
large fires going, and while these pre-
vented marauding bea Is from coming
too near, the glare probably attracted
them to the locality. Ono could dis
tinguish the spit of the panther, the
snarl of the tiger, and the voice of the
lion; and added TO these were the howl
of the wolf, the chatter of the hyena,
and the yelp of the jackal. Truly, we
had struck rich flnd. Driven out of
the other districts, the beast creation
had made their way to this, and the
sound of hunters rifle had not been
heard here for years.
had not gone quarter of mile
from camp when u large black snake
ran Kissing away from my feet, and |
heard wild beast of some sort making
its way in the thickct, These were
proofs that ! could not be ovcrprudent,
and thereafter | kept my eyes about
me and my rifle ready for instant scrv-
ice. The village was strung along
the creek for half mile, but the first
hut | came to was an inclosure that
had been used for n council house.
The four walls were of adobe, while
the roof was matched. There were
really but three walls, one end being
left open except slight return of each
side wall. This open space was at
least twenty feet across, while there
was room enough inside for 400 people
to sit or stand. The open end looked
back in the direction l had come, and
twenty feet away was the beginning of n
wall which extended for about 800 feet
1t was about four feet high, made of
adobe, and / could not make out for
what purpose it had been erected. If
an enemy had been expected to APP
proach from east or west this wall
would have been good brcastwork, al
though its left flank could have easily
been turned.
l stood there for three or four min
utcs scanning the interior of the build
ing, and then walked to the further end
of it, There was n couple of whitcned
skulls on the ground, and | gave one
of them n kick. As did so an insect or
u reptile of some sort issued forth with
great swiftness and stung or bit me
on the left wrist. Its movements were
so rapid that could not say whether
it flew OF sprang at me. ! simply
caught n glimpse or two of Il dark,
hairy object, and then felt the pain,
which was as severe ms if | had been
touched with rcd-hot iron. car
ried an antidotc for insect and reptile
poisoning. Near the great doorway
was block of wood, and | went to it,
pulled off my coat, pushed up my sleeve,
and examined the wound. There was
but one puncturc, but it had drawn
blood, and the flesh was rapidly
reddening. | brought my arm up
and sucked away mt the wound for
two or three minutes, and then applied
the antidote and wrapped a bandagc
about it. must have drawn the poison
out, but nevertheless | soon found my
self as weak as babe, and my head
seemed four times too large for my
body. Indeed, | was afraid to stand
up for fear that my body would not
support the head This feeling began
to go away in about fifteen minutes,
and | was just congratulating myself
on my lucky escape when / turned my
eyes to the north, or toward camp
The sight thrilled me like an electric
shock. Close beside the wall, on the
left hand side, was tiger, II rousing
big fellow, who had seen fifteen years
of life. On the right hand side, and
also close to the base of the wall, was
medium sized male lion, and the atti-
tude of both plainly showed that they
had been stalking me. 1t was still
hunt, and | was the victim. The lion
had come out of the bush to the right,
and the tiger had come out of a
thicket to the left and crossed the creek.
Neither animal could have seen the
other, and thus they were not aware of
each others presence.
Had | remained in the building with
my back to the door another moment
one of the beasts would undoubtedly
have crept close enough to make a
spring. When | turned about and sat
down on the block ofwoodIthe movement
upset their calculations and made them
timid for the moment. Under certain
circumstance any wild beast loses heart.
\ move which is surprise and not
clearly understood will make ours of
them at once, and second move will
put them to ignominious flight. When
| got sight of the beasts the lion
had half turned, as if to sneak away,
while the tiger was crouched against
the wall, and appeared shame-faced.
Had risen up and swung my hat and
yelled both would have bolted, but |
must confess that, taking my pain and
and the general situation into account,
! was badly ratified. | couldn't think
just what ought to DO done, and there
fore did nothing. This, after moment,
encouraged the beasts, and then came
such situation rs few men were ever
placed in. had opportunity to see
here, lion and tiger approaching a
victim waiting to be struck down. l
have wondered thousand times what
could have come over me to sit there
with my gun within reach and my re-
volver in its holster and make not the
slightest move to save my life, while
those fierce brutes crept nearer and
nearer. think the poison benumbed
and stupifed me to q certain extent.
! hat is, while my brain was never more
active and my eyc-sight keen, 'lelt
helpless to move, and my mouth was
as dry as if had the fever. / knew
my peril as fully as any one could, but
when | thought of grasping my rifle
and sighting it the eXertion required
Il 49,,